Over the next few months, discussion in Ottawa will focus exclusively on Canada’s economy and an inevitable federal deficit. As usual, this will amount to much bluster and rhetoric from the opposition about how badly the Conservative government has handled Canada’s economy, while emphasizing the need to avoid drastic cuts that contribute to hardships felt across the country today.
The only way to avoid a deficit would be a combination of massive spending cuts and tax increases, something no responsible government or economist would advocate in the midst of a global recession. Attacks from the Liberals, Bloc, and NDP will focus on how the deficit could have been avoided—they will talk about “outrageous” and “irresponsible” spending and “wasteful” tax cuts. These hypocritical arguments will not help Canada overcome its economic troubles.
After the past two Conservative budgets were unveiled, every opposition party decried the lack of new funding for one pet project or another. Until presented with the Conservatives’ wild spending, the opposition advocated increased spending themselves. The NDP has also taken issue with the corporate tax cuts introduced during the last Parliament, a specious argument since making Canada a more attractive place to do business should be the overarching goal of economic management, especially when the global economy is contracting. In times like these, global trade and business investments are necessary to maintain jobs and income for working Canadians.
The arguments discussed will amount to much ado about nothing: the Liberals cannot bring down the government until they elect a new leader next May. The Liberals’ precarious status should make the Conservatives feel more comfortable with leading as they see fit. As Mr. Harper stated during the first Question Period last Thursday, the NDP and Bloc are ready to “[oppose] for the sake of opposing” to win political points with their base.
The Official Opposition’s problems are complex: this session, the Liberals will be unable to do much opposing at all. Just as they did in the months before the election, they’ll likely resort to abstaining on confidence motions to register moral opposition without actually forcing another election. While I grudgingly recognize the political necessity of such a manoeuvre, it betrays those who marked “X” next to a Liberal candidate on October 14. Liberal MPs were sent to Parliament to stand up for their constituents’ beliefs, their party’s policies, and their ridings’ best interests. Abstaining MPs ignore their duties to those who elected them for partisan political gain.
Ultimately, I believe that the 40th Parliament will give itself a chance to work, and I hope—against all odds—that the pledge made during the election of the house speaker “to operate with a modicum of decorum and bipartisanship” will last beyond the first week of the Question Period. The problems facing Canada and our economy are far too great to justify the nonsensical finger pointing and name-calling that occurred during the past two minority governments.
